Atlanta Defensive Tackle Jonathan Babineaux Arrested on Drug Charges

Shame has visited the Atlanta Falcons once again. This time, thanks to defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux, the Falcons' management is scrambling to save face. Babineaux was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute after a police officer said he smelled marijuana in the player's SUV during a routine traffic stop Thursday night. According to jail records, Babineaux, 28, was released from the Gwinnett County jail shortly after 5 a.m. Friday after paying a $5,700 bond.

The team said in a statement: "We are aware of the situation concerning Jonathan Babineaux and are in the process of gathering information. Because this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time."

Babineaux was with another man, 25-year-old Aaron Robinson Minneapolis, who also was arrested. Robinson was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a felony. Babinaeux and Robinson were stopped around 10:45 p.m. Thursday as they drove north on I-85 in Babineaux's 2005 Cadillac Escalade EXT.

"It's cut and dry," Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli told the AJC. "He was stopped for a traffic violation." Schiralli said the officer searched the SUV because he smelled marijuana. The officer found three bags containing a total of 40 grams of marijuana, Schiralli said.

In addition to the possession charges, Babineaux is charged with having no tag light and driving without a license and with an expired tag. He also was charged with tinting his car windows too much. Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Babineaux was drafted by the Falcons in the second round out of Iowa in 2005. You draw your own conclusions, but it is a shame that people put these athletes on a pedestal when many of them are no better than a common thug in the streets.  Babineaux has had a run-in with Gwinnett county police before. He was  arrested and charged in 2007, for killing his girlfriend's dog, a pit bull-mix , but the animal cruelty case was dismissed nine months later. To echo a famous presidential campaign slogan, "if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig." Some of these guys just can't shake their "street" mentality when they come into money.

Photo credit:  Jonathon Babineaux, Atlanta Journal Constitution